Provo Craft has been building a lot of mystery surrounding the new Cricut accessory that is being unveiled at CHA-Summer. First they set up a website with hints to the tool’s capabilities on it, along with a countdown to its unveiling. Now, they’ve gone all out with a social media campaign that I believe may be unlike anything ever seen in the scrapbook industry.
The website has now been expanded to host embedded YouTube videos that show the quest of bounty hunter Donnie K. to retrieve 10 test units that weren’t returned. The videos, also available on the RogueGypsies YouTube Channel, are pretty unusual for the scrapbook industry. Check out the example below:
Donnie K. also has his own Twitter account, Facebook page, and Flickr account.
Provo Craft is hitting all the marks on a textbook social media campaign that is designed to go viral, and it seems to be working.
So what is the Gypsy?
According to the RogueGypsies.com website, here are its vital statistics:
Features:
- Size – 8” x 3” x 1.5”
- Weight – 11 ounces
- Screen Size – 4.7”, 16:9, 480 x 272
- Stylus Length – 3.75”
- Storage – ~4000 Cartridges, 10000+ Designs
- Battery Life – 4 hrs cont. 18 hrs int.
- Compatible with all Cricut Machines and Cartridges
- Weld, size, slant, rotate, stretch, preview
- 2 Full content cartridges preloaded
Benefits:
- No computer required
- All CDS functionality on-the-go with no PC
- Interfaces with CDS when connected to a PC
- Stores All Content
- Stores All Overlays
- Stores All Manuals
- Stores CDS Projects
Joy Tracey, author of the Obsessed With Scrapbooking blog, was part of a focus group about the device. She’s indicating in her blog post about the Gypsy that it stores all of the contents of the user’s Cricut cartridges.
Word around the internet has it that the cartridges may be erased when their contents are loaded onto the Gypsy (obviously PC would want to do this to prevent sharing and duplicating of cartridges, which would run rampant otherwise). If this is true, this makes the computer geek in me nervous, because electronic devices can be damaged, crash, or have their memory die. Any computer owner knows they have to protect their valuable data by backing up their hard drive regularly. I wonder what protections would be in place for future Gypsy owners should a device possibly holding hundreds, even thousands, of dollars of cartridges fail. Would there be a back-up system, or a way to reclaim the cartridges? It’s one thing to have a single cartridge die – it’s another thing to lose your whole collection due to a hardware failure.
Update – Please see Scrapbook Update’s follow-up article for a statement from Provo Craft on the issue of whether the Gypsy renders Cricut cartridges inoperable.
You know I had not heard that it would erase the cart when you loaded it, now that would be a downer and I don’t think I could bring myself to do it if that were the case. Just as you said what happens if the unit fails, or god forbid some crazed Teenager at the Library or the park steals it thinking it’s a new fangled handheld gaming system. I could see me setting it down for a minute to tend to my crying child who skinned his knee and turn around and it’s gone along with the hundred or so carts in it. Ha no not happening to me that’s for sure.
I would think a lot of people would be wary if that if it were true. I could see maybe a download system online or a code system built in since it comes preloaded with CDS maybe you just have put in your carts serial number to unlock access to the images, booklets, and overlays. I could see that being a viable option since also taking the time to individually download the info from each of my carts would take quite a long time. So it really logically has to be more of an unlock feature than a download type feature.
I can’t wait to see pricing on this thing. For me I have a laptop, don’t really go out to a lot of places, don’t go to crops or swaps, so I am not in need of this really, however I do volunteer at the library and I bring my baby bug with me so we can cut out things for the children’s department and I am currently lugging my boxes of carts and books and overlays, 50+ carts I think haven’t counted in a long time, plus my baby bug plus my laptop bag and some supplies too. It’s a lot of work with 4 kids in tow at the same time as we homeschool so they are a part of everything I do. So for that alone this would be nice to just have that which would fit in my backpack, and my bug well that would be great. But Price is going to be a big thing, I can’t see paying any more than 100.00 for this, since it’s really nothing more than a glorified hard drive with a small screen and the ability to use one program.
Anyway it looks besides all and any specualtions so I am excited to see more
April
Owing two Cricuts I have been following this with much hope and curiosity! While I”m excited it allows me the ability to load cartridges into the system, not have to carry around cartridges, overlays etc. I too am really concerned about the fact it “empties” your cartridges. As April said “unlocking” would make much more sense…but then that would require you to have to hook it up to the internet to make sure the code isn’t used (or misused, have you ever went to enter a code online that someone already used ahead of you even though it’s yours?)
Things get lost, things get broken, things get sold on ebay (could you imagine the empty cartridges being sold and buyers missing some fine print?) The price I have been seeing around online is $289 which is another hindering factor. I have several hundred (Ok probably $1k at least
) invested into machines, cartridges, design studio, etc. it just seems like too big of chunk to drop right now.
The concept look fabulous! So while I’ll be watching and waiting to see the official unveiling at CHA…I’ll be hesitant to drop the money until the kinks get worked out. The videos are hysterical, and I’m glad it’s getting announced before hand, this gives Provo a chance to hear ALL of the questions and concerns before the show (meaning maybe we they have some answers by then)
I ran this by my husband (aka a computer guru) who likened the carts to cd’s that you put in your computer to load a program. Your computer does not erase the cd’s so then why should the Gypsy erase our carts? Also he said what happens when the Gypsy fails and all of your carts are in there? Not only are you out the amount of money to buy the Gypsy but also all the money you spent on your carts. Not really a good move on Provo Craft’s part. Of course after I dropped the money on the Jukebox which sits in my craft area still in it’s box and unused I don’t think I’ll be buying a Gypsy.
If it erases my cartridges, there’s no chance I’ll buy it. I had a hard enough time when I bought the design studio convincing them that I needed it on my desktop AND my laptop. In fact, I had a hard time reaching technical support at all.
No way will I buy this if it will erase my cartridges. The second I read that information yesterday, I knew this product was a no-go for me. In addition to the fact that I like to list my used cartridges on Ebay when I get sick of them, everyone has a really good point – what happens when your Gypsy gets damaged or stolen? I’m not willing to risk it! Also, as someone already mentioned, this is going to cause a huge problem with Ebay buyers and sellers. How can you be sure you’re not buying a cartridge that has been erased? It’s possible a seller may not even be aware that they can be erased, as not everyone that sells Cricut stuff on Ebay is a scrapbooker.
Man. I’m starting to think that the cricut is the only good idea that these guys have ever had. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great idea, but not well thought out. Where is the Internet capability. These guys need to start thinking outside of their little box.
The portability idea is great. Mom can design something in the car, wile waiting for her kid to get out of school. That’s great. I also like that it works with Design software on your PC.
But.
I could probably hire 1 software guy for a month, and have him write software for an I-Phone application that could do the same thing, plus allot more, mainly because of the Internet. You could sell a a piece of hardware that plugs into the cricut, just like this Gypsy does, it would be housed with a wireless network card, and very little other circuitry. When you purchase the hardware, you would receive 1 gig of free server space. If you need more server space then you can get it for a small fee. Provocraft could even host collaboration projects on the site for free. It would be a basic Internet function that would be fairly easy to maintain. The music products industry has got this kind of thing down to a science.
All I’m saying is good try guys. Keep at it. And remember, Girls know just as much about computers, and the Internet as boys.
Provocraft created this market. That makes Provocraft the industry standard. If you don’t do something to solidify that roll in the next few years,you are going to loose it.
I’m pullin’ for ya’.
Sincerely; Eric Matthews.
It sounds like “erasing” the cartridge would be a simple security precaution so that you can’t share cartridges. If they didn’t do this, they would be opening themselves up to a bunch of piracy between Cricut users.
Also, I doubt that the cartridge is erased. Just like any device that stores data, the header in each sector of data would be marked as blank instead of actually wiping all of the data. When you delete something on your computer, it is still there and can be recovered. The only thing that happens on a delete is a header gets marked “available” so it appears that the data is gone.
I still don’t understand what the real benefit of this is other then working remotely on designs or not having to have a laptop.
One can only speculate.
If it erases my cartridges there is no way, absolutely no way, that I would purchase it. I have spent way to much building my cartridge library just to have it wiped away in seconds by a malfunctioning or failed hard drive. I love my cricut and I never scrap without it and would never take that kind of chance. I understand their concern for sharing, but I am sure borrowing of cartridges goes on all the time. Why would we risk our investment? I was excited about the gypsy but I am afraid after reading the negatives of having your library wiped out it will be a no go for me. After I bought their Expression bag, which was like $30, I received the worst customer service you could imagine. I am still waiting for my prepaid shipping label to return it and its been 6 months I think. Even though they promised it was being mailed the same day as my phone call I have never received one follow up call or email, much less the shipping label. If that is how they act over $30 can you imagine dealing with them about something that could be valued at over a $1,000. No way would I do it. Find a better way to make sure people can’t download cartridges they don’t own… they can always borrow.
Just wanted to help clarify some mis-information regarding Cart usage with Gypsy! I have it from a pretty reliable source (pretty high at provocraft) that no- the carts will not be erased. So if you own a cart and download it to your Gypsy – your friend can’t take the same cart and upload it to her’s. The carts can only be downloaded to the original users.
So with that said- I can not wait to get my grubby hands around one!
It is good news that the Gypsy will not erase the cartridge. Even before the Gypsy was mentioned, though, I have wondered if Provo Craft is so proprietary that it hurts its business. I mean even a big gun like Apple allows others to write ancillary programs or make accessories for the iphone and such. I know SCAL could have certainly been a big money maker for them if they had chosen to partner with them. Obviously, a company has to survive, but I think there is a fine line between giving a customer what they want and putting a ridiculously tight rein on them. I am constrained enough during my everyday life. When I have time to craft, I don’t want restrictions on my materials I am working with. I don’t want to wonder if the used cartridge I’m buying has been uploaded or not. The gypsy is not for me, but I am wondering if anyone has thought this same thing about PC?
it does not erase carts
isn’t the internet grand, all the info in the world, it’s just that about 50% of it, is wrong